GENERALLY SPEAKING: Seeking a Career Path; Google Has Answers

Twenty-five years of living has taught me a lot. Most of all live in the
moment and love life. After spending all of my career in retail
management in Indiana, I packed up and drove down to live in the
sunshine state that is Florida. Following this life changing
decision, I've also chosen to share with the world what I love and
how I view life.

There
are some people in this world who have figured it all out. From the
time they were in high school they knew they wanted to be a doctor,
or maybe even they figured it out before that as a child. I always
felt like a failure not being one of those people. I'm reasonably
smart, pretty good at anything I apply myself to, and I've always had
pastimes that I thoroughly enjoy doing. I just could never settle on
something to spend my whole life doing. I spent all my teens, college
years, and now my mid-20s still trying to figure that out. I assumed
at some point something would just click. But here I am, 25,
relatively jobless, seeking career prospects.

And
there, by far, has been nothing scarier than admitting that to not
only myself, but to others. As someone who doesn’t like to
disappoint, it is hard telling your mother and father you have no
clue what you want to do with your life. They didn’t raise a bum. I
worked hard in school to get into a good college to get a good paying
career. Yet, somewhere I've failed. At least that’s how I see it.
Luckily, I have the best family and support system in the universe. I
have a wonderful mother who lets me cry on the phone over a million
miles away, unable to really do anything but listen and say positive
words of encouragement. And I have a funny father who calls the
second I get off the phone with mother to try to distract me; to get
my mind off the very sore subject. I have a sister, who herself
packed up and left for a new life, and her boyfriend who give solid
advice. I am eternally grateful to the both of them for giving me
this opportunity of a new life.

I’ve
always heard that if you follow your dreams, your passions, you will
never truly work a day in your life. That’s what I want. I want to
feel like I’m never truly working. I want to be disappointed to
have to go home. I want to wake up everyday and know that I get to do
the thing that make me happier than any Ben and Jerry’s flavor or
new episode of Doctor Who ever could. But, to a point, I also don’t
want to live paycheck to paycheck. And sometimes, what you may love
may also not be profitable.

“Make
a list of what kind of lifestyle you want, how much money it’ll
take to live that way and go from there. Also, make a list of 2-3
careers that you could see yourself doing” is sound advice from my
sister and her partner. The point of doing that is that once you know
what you want out of life you’ll figure out what it takes to get
there and what jobs that sound interesting can help achieve it.
Sounds simple enough.

My
list for What I Want Out of Life is short and simple; I want a
work-life balance. I want to be able to enjoy family time, traveling,
special events going on in my area, hanging out with friends. I don’t
want to be bogged down with so much work that that is all I do. I
don't want to work really hard for millions of dollars to only die
with no actual life experience. Secondly, I want to live comfortably.
And I’m sure plenty of you are thinking that comfortably is
subjective. It is. What I mean by being able to live comfortably is
not living paycheck to paycheck. If I want to buy some new shoes I
don’t want to have to worry if I’m going to have to skip a meal
or be late on my rent because of it. I have dreams of going to Europe
at some point, but that doesn’t mean that I want to go at a drop of
a hat. I can save for a few years for that and it won't kill me.
That’s it. Just those two things: work-life balance and to live
comfortably.

The
next part has proven to be a very arduous task: What Can You See
Yourself Doing? I just started jotting down things I like. Needless
to say that list was much, much longer. Staring at that list, trying
to combine a few or seeing how any of those could turn into a career
became mind numbing.

So
then I thought, what don’t I like? Why did I leave retail? I made
good money, was pretty good at making sales and enjoyed managing. It
came down to one thought. I felt like just another cog. I was just
someone who was another piece of machinery that was not cared for,
whose opinions and thoughts did not matter, who could not make
change. Which is why I think being a manager was my favorite part of
the job because I could change the way my employees viewed the job. I
felt stuck and under-appreciated, but that didn’t mean my staff had
to. But I digress, because I could talk for days about all the people
I worked with throughout my years in retail and probably how they
touched me more than I did anything for them. But that is something
that is very important to me; I want to feel like what I am doing is
appreciated, needed, and that I can be heard. I am a person, not a
part piece.

My
quest for trying to figure out what I should do with my life led to a
road filled with desperation. So I Googled “What Should I do with
My Life?”. (Please judge me) Up popped a list of billions of blogs,
articles and forums with a way. Unfortunately, it requires some
thinking; it couldn’t just tell me to be a teacher and call it a
day. One post that I read mentioned something that I hadn’t
considered. What are you doing now that would make your child self
cry? The author goes on about how he used to write as a child. But as
he grew up he stopped. He imagines his child self coming up to him
and asking, “Why don’t you write anymore?” His response of “I’m
not good at it, no one would want to read what I write” would make
the child version cry. Why would you give up something you enjoy
doing just because of other people? And I think that is why a lot of
people give up on their dreams. Fear, judgment and rejection play key
roles in how we set up our lives. Some people are good at handling
that and that is why they get to achieve their dreams. Others can’t
handle it and that is why they settle.

I
don’t want to settle. But it got me thinking what did I do as a
child that I no longer do as an adult that would make my mini me
bawl? Well, my self-deprecating sense of humor immediately thought of
eating; I was a plump little piglet. But thankfully I still do that;
maybe a little too much still. But in all seriousness, when I was a
kid I loved being creative. I loved to dance, color, draw, sing.
Heck, I pretended to put on concerts for my dolls and stuffed animals
(they were always sold out). I used to draw outfits and think about
who’d wear this and where would they be going. I stopped believing
in my creative spirit because I was afraid people wouldn’t think I
was good. I was afraid I would be rejected.

The
next article that I came across had a very straightforward and simple
formula to solve my issue. G+P+V=C Gifts in addition to Passions
along with Values will lead you to your Career. So what are you good
at, what communities and problems do you care most about, and what do
you treasure in life? Well, the last two were easy and quick for me;
it is again the one that requires introspection that I seem to fail
at. Just because I enjoy doing something doesn’t mean that I’m
gifted at it. I sung sold out concerts to my stuffed animals and
dolls but I’m sure even their fake ears were bleeding. So in
another act of desperation I asked for help on Facebook. I have yet
to hear anything back from anyone, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.

I’m
sure my mother will comment something positive and uplifting like,
“Anything you set your mind to you are awesome at!!!” And yes,
she will use exactly three or even more exclamations. Her finger is
very trigger happy when it comes to that punctuation mark. I’m sure
my father will text me shortly after my mother shares the FB post
with him with a list of what he thinks I’m good at. And I’m sure
tonight, as we sit for dinner and I again bring up the continuing
topic that is “Help Paige get her life together,” my sister will
share with me how I’m good at being a smart-butt or a pain in the
butt; sisterly love and all, before sharing something more real.

So
by the end of this post I may not have figured out what I want to do
with my life, but I have figured out one thing; Google really does
have an answer for everything. I've just got to find it.